


ROCKABYE

by orphan_account



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Emotional Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, It's Hard and Nobody Understands, Motherhood, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-15 09:50:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13028505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The final battle, betrayal from everyone she loved, and unplanned pregnancy.Life never did not go as planned for Marinette, but she refused to fall, instead stood straighter, taller, and faced every challenge head-on. Now, Marinette struggles as a single parent, trying not to succumb under the pressure.





	ROCKABYE

It was the nights loved the most. There was a certain peace she found in the light illuminated sky, the soft breeze whispering of coming winter. And sharing this tranquillity with her baby boy was even better. She glanced at Hugo, her child of six, sitting next to her, munching on chips and occasionally sipping his cocoa. His emerald eyes shined as he stared at the Paris’ skyline, his black hair swaying with the wind. She ran a hand through them to which he gave her a small smile and leaned towards her. They both sighed contently when her phone buzzed, causing her to jump and Hugo to chuckle. She gave him a mock glare before checking the message. 

She bit her lip and glanced at Hugo whose face had already fallen. She opened her mouth to apologise but he just shrugged and turned and put the lid on his tumbler back on. Marinette swallowed and followed. They quietly gathered their belongings and put them in the bag, then stood up. 

“I’m sorry, Hugo,” she whispered and looked down at her baby boy, and her heart broke when she saw his eyes she loved so much glistening with tears. She crouched down in front of him and cupped his face. “I’m sorry.”

He buried his face in her neck and cried miserably. Marinette swallowed down her own emotions and ran a soothing hand through his hair and his spine.

“Just a little longer, Hugo, darling. Just a little,” she pleaded.

“You said that last time, too,” he whispered. 

“I know, and I am trying,” she said. “Just a little time more and I will get my degree, then hopefully a better job. But till then you have to, darling, please.”

He nodded but pressed himself even closer to her. She sighed, then slinging the bag over one shoulder, she picked Hugo up and made her way down to her neighbour’s door, Ms Rivet’s door. She was a lovely old woman who immediately took the mantle of a grandmother in Hugo’s life, and a solid rock in his mother’s. 

When six years ago Marinette had moved into this apartment, she had no one to call hers except the small pink kwami whose health was dwindling fast, and an infant suckling on her breasts. Her parents washed their hands of her when she chose to let the baby live, and while her friends were there, nobody was yet ready enough, financially or emotionally, to support a single mother. For the father of the child, Marinette wasn’t sure if he even knew about Hugo. Chat Noir, the cat superhero, disappeared after the face behind the Hawkmoth was discovered. She was still reeling from the fact that her role model, the Gabriel Agreste, was Hawkmoth, when, during some public conference media was hurling insults at Adrien, who transformed right then and there into her beloved Chat Noir. Nobody has seen him ever since. Not even Ladybug, who he called his best friend. Not even Marinette, who he called his lover.

She was sobbing on the floor, clutching the babe to her chest, when she had met Ms Rivet. The woman had picked her up from the ground and taken her to her own apartment, then fed both her and the baby, then listened to Marinette as the younger woman told her story in half-broken sentences. For the first time in her life since accepting those earrings, Marinette had hidden nothing. She told her of her and Chat’s relation, her and Adrien’s relation, how everyone she counted on left her as soon as they smelled trouble, how she was utterly alone now, and how she doesn’t even want to live now. Ms Rivet had listened patiently, only occasionally asking questions, and once Marinette was done, she told her how she does have a reason to live. She has in gentle words reminded Marinette that she has been Paris’ superhero for years now, now she has to be her child’s. 

And Marinette knew Ms Rivet was right. She could never leave her child helpless and alone, not as long as she can. Ms Rivet had smiled then and sent her to her own apartment with a promise to help in any way she can. Marinette had hesitated at first because her own parents had thrown her away when times turned difficult, why would a stranger help, but in the end she had no choice but to trust her neighbour. 

Marinette knew that finding a job without any education apart from school would be difficult but she never knew how. It took her weeks to secure a job in a bakery some blocks away, and only because of her experience, but the pay was so low she could barely afford to feed herself, let alone a baby. Again, Ms Rivet has proved to be a god sent as the old woman kept bringing Hugo things and dropping them here and there, saying that she never had a grandkid to spoil before when Marinette had pointed out. Marinette had blushed furiously, her eyes watering at her own helplessness but accepted in gratitude. It was a difficult time and she couldn’t deny any help she got.

It was her co-worker who suggested her a job as a pole dancer. You have a nice figure for a mother of a child, she’d said, and from what I’ve seen you’re flexible too. If you’re good, you can make much more money you’re making here. Marinette had hesitated but she couldn’t think of any better option. She was plenty flexible with all the time as Ladybug and being an inter-racial child, had some exotic features, so quenching her discomfort, she had applied for it and surprisingly gotten a job. 

The pay was better but not enough, but with the response to her shows, slowly, she had gotten raise in both pay and position. Now she was amongst the top three of the strippers of the club and was asked for private shows many times. 

Once she had thought that she will be a fashion designer. Sometimes Marinette has difficulty accepting that that naïve girl was her. The one who never anticipated that life could flip 180 degrees like this, the people who she trusted more than she trusted herself would betray her like this. 

She sighed and parked her small car in the lot of the club she worked in. Today was one of those personal shows where someone rich and kinky would try and grope her as she danced on her pole, then laugh as she’ll slip out of his grasp. She sighed and entered the dressing room where she Naomi standing with a scowl, hands on her hip, waiting for her. Naomi was a year older than her, a broke student who enjoyed too much booze and to strip herself bare to the crowd. She was fierce and took shit from no one, and Marinette loved her for it.

“What,” she asked, biting inside her cheek to keep from smiling.

“Late,” she said, “You’re late and boss scolded me. What am I, your assistant?” 

“Sorry, darling,” Marinette said, “Children problem.”

“Ugh.” Naomi wrinkled her nose before plopping down on the chair. “You can’t always use the child card. Alright,” she said, pointing with the lipstick she was holding. Noticing the fallen expression Marinette was wearing, her expression softened and she asked, “What happened,” softly.

“The usual,” Marinette replied, picking the dress for the night. “He doesn’t even ask anymore, Naomi, he’s just, like, resigned himself to the fact that his mother works at night and won’t stop no matter how much he begs. Ms Rivet says he has started to understand but, I, I don’t know.” she turned to face her friend, “I don’t know which is worse: his acceptance or questioning.”

“Marinette,” Naomi said softly, coming to her friend. 

“Tonight, after the message you sent, he just packed his stuff without saying a word. He looked so... so sad and Nao, my, my heart just broke. I- I don’t know what to do.” She pressed her forehead to her friend’s shoulder who in turn wrapped her arms around her and held her gently.

“I know it’s difficult, Mari, but you’re trying. I know, and I’m sure he does too. He’s a smart kid, our Hugo, but he’s a kid. He will understand, he’s beginning too,” Naomi said gently. “Don’t worry. And soon, you’ll get your degree, then you would be able to apply for a better job, just, just be patient.”

Marinette nodded, and had a sense of déjà vu when her friend started running a hand through her hair. 

“I just.. I just don’t want to be a bad parent,” Marinette whispered, wiping her eyes. “A bad, absent parent. I don’t- my parents might’ve left me now, but they were there when I was a child. Hugo already doesn’t have a father or another parent figure in his life, his grandmother is a woman who was kind to them, I- I don’t want to fail, Naomi.”

Naomi pushed her back at that, then cupped her face and looked in her eyes. “Marinette, I had two brothers, two parents, and decent money. Believe me when I say this they were not even half of a parent you are. Yes, you might not give him everything he wants, not materialistically, but you’re there, Marinette. Emotionally you are there. You hold him when he cries, indulge his childishness, look forward to spending time with him. Do you know how much it matters to a child to have a parent who actually gives a shit about them, actually appreciates them in their lives and not look at them as a mistake or burden. There is no perfect childhood, Marinette, but there are good ones and you are giving him one. Stop thinking too much. He loves you, he looks at you like you’ve hung moon and stars. You know it. Just stop.”

Marinette swallowed, then nodded again. “I know, I- thank you, Nao.”

Naomi smiled and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “ There’s my Ladybug,” she said and they both shared a grin. “Now if you remember, madame, you have a show to give, a stage to fire. Go change.”

Marinette gave a salute before turning and walking towards the changing room, then gave her friend a middle finger when she felt the swat on her bum.

Everything might not be okay, but she was doing her best. She was still standing, proud and strong, and she will, and she will give her baby boy a childhood he deserves. 

If only life was so easy, she mused, as she saw a familiar face enter the club.


End file.
